COVID-19 impact: Housing sales plummet 66% QoQ in Q2 2020

Housing sales dropped by 66 percent quarter-on-quarter to 21,294 units across top nine cities in India in the second quarter (April-June) of 2020 on account of the coronavirus pandemic and ensuing lockdown, a study by PropEquity revealed.

New supply or launches of housing units also decreased by 81 percent during the same period to 11,967 units as developers barely launched new projects on account of sales hitting the pause button, said the data analytics firm.

Noida was the only city that saw no launches in the second quarter. Sales decreased by 26 percent to 1,177 units during the same period.

In terms of new launches, Gurugram saw a fall of 81 percent to 138 units as compared to the preceding quarter. Sales also decreased 65 percent QoQ to 361 units.

New launches witnessed a decrease of 85 percent QoQ, with 906 units launched in Q2, while absorption dropped 62 percent to 2,206 units.

Hyderabad saw a 79 percent decline in new launches at 1,239 units. Sales fell 73 percent to 1,522 units, the study said.

India’s IT capital saw a quarterly downfall of 45 percent in terms of new launches, with 5,231 units launched in Q2. Sales fell 66 percent to 2,818 units during the same period, it said.

In Maharashtra, sales of residential properties in Mumbai fell 63 percent to 2,206 units. Demand fell 56 percent and 70 percent in Thane and Pune at 5,999 units and 5,169 units, respectively.

New launches in Chennai declined by 92 percent to 350 units in Q2 2020. Sales decreased by 70 percent to 996 units in Q2, the study said.

Commenting on the findings of the study, Samir Jasuja, founder and Managing Director, PropEquity, said, “We believe larger developers with low debt leverage will ride out the storm and will do reasonably well by the third quarter. We may witness resizing of units, discounts, amenities and special payment schemes being offered by developers to create demand, especially during the upcoming festive season,” he added.